The alley-oop poster dunk Li Fei delivered at the start sent a shockwave deep into the souls of the three Chinese men's basketball representatives.
These three were no ordinary basketball enthusiasts; they were seasoned basketball experts, and Xu Jicheng had even been a player for a provincial youth team.
To put it immodestly, these men were well-traveled and had seen it all.
But an alley-oop dunk like Li Fei's, where his heels nearly touched the free-throw line upon takeoff?
They had truly never seen such a thing.
And it wasn't just the three Chinese experts.
At this moment, in a VIP suite at the Great Western Forum.
The Logo Jerry West and Lakers assistant general manager Mitch Kupchak, who were watching the live broadcast, were both completely stunned.
"What shit?"
"This dunk should go down in history, right?"
Kupchak's mouth twitched uncontrollably: "This guy has just set the Great Western Forum on fire."
The cigar in The Logo's hand trembled slightly: "If I had known, I should have been at the arena; this dunk was worth seeing in person."
The Logo was a man who had seen his fair share of storms in the NBA.
He had won an MVP, a championship, and had been named to the All-NBA team 12 times.
It was fair to say there wasn't a scene he hadn't witnessed.
But this dunk by Li Fei.
Even if the Basketball Emperor Wilt Chamberlain were to come out of retirement, he would likely be wary of it.
The camera cut back to the court.
"Is this the way you're bringing glory back to Michigan?"
After landing from the dunk.
Li Fei looked down at Juwan, who was still lying on the floor in a daze, and offered a friendly greeting: "Welcome to poster time, buddy!"
The implication of "poster time" was clear.
Juwan was destined to be the best background character of the night!
The Paul George of the 90s.
"Motherfucker!"
Juwan Howard clenched his fists, then climbed back up like a man.
At the same time, he knew that in tonight's battle.
Either he or Li Fei would have to fall!
"Swish!"
Li Fei sank the additional free throw.
3:0
On the other end.
Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard executed a hand-off play, and the moment the ball was exchanged, Juwan suddenly cut to the basket.
In a rush, Li Fei scrambled to provide help defense in the paint.
Jalen Rose caught the ball and suddenly pulled up, sinking a steady three-pointer.
3:3
Jalen Rose, who was averaging 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists this season, played with a style identical to the future JR Smith—stable, yet possessing the attributes of a "nervous knife" shooter.
Possession changed, and the Golden Bears set up their half-court offense.
"Help defense!"
At this moment, Michigan head coach Steve Fisher signaled for help defense in the paint.
Immediately after, the moment Li Fei touched the ball.
Eric Riley, the meat shield stationed in the paint, watched Li Fei's back and quietly shifted his feet, positioning himself perfectly for help defense.
"Oh ho!"
This scene made the on-site commentator Marv Albert instantly spot the tactical shift: "The Wolverines have sent Juwan Howard to stick to Li Fei, while Eric Riley is ready to help in the paint."
"They have clearly adopted a 'front-pressure, back-seal' defensive philosophy."
Beside him, the red-headed giant Bill Walton instantly decoded the Wolverines' defense: "Juwan is using his lower-body strength to pressure Li Fei and prevent a direct hook shot, while Eric Riley in the paint is ready to help defend against Li Fei's drive to the rim."
Even without Chris Webber, the defensive configuration of Michigan remained formidable.
In fact, because Webber had to focus on maintaining the offense, he couldn't allocate as many skills to the defensive end as Riley could.
In other words.
The defensive pressure this Michigan Wolverines team was putting on Li Fei was even greater!
Facing this situation, the Basketball Trio from China at the scene also furrowed their brows.
This level of defense was not something seen in the game tapes sent over by their American counterparts previously.
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How would Li Fei break through this?
The fans in the arena were also filled with immense anticipation.
On the court, Li Fei held the ball with his back to the basket, established his position, and slammed his body into the torso of Juwan Howard.
"Boom!"
A heart-trembling sound of muscle colliding rang out; Juwan held his breath and managed to withstand Li Fei's attack.
Li Fei was not surprised that he hadn't created any space.
Instead, a mysterious smile appeared on his face.
"Huh? What's going on?"
The on-site commentators were puzzled when they saw Li Fei's smile: "Li Fei is actually smiling!"
At such a tense and thrilling moment, Li Fei was actually laughing.
What kind of script was this?
To be honest, Li Fei had never underestimated the strength of Juwan Howard.
If this guy didn't have the strength, he wouldn't have achieved that level of success in the NBA.
Not to mention that his 2.08-meter height gave him a lower center of gravity, making it no easy task for Li Fei to simply bulldoze through Juwan.
However, the reason Li Fei was smiling was...
He had finally encountered an opponent worthy of making him activate his skill set!
The next moment.
In Howard's bewildered eyes, Li Fei held the ball in his left hand and suddenly began a shoulder shimmy with his back to the basket.
Dropping his shoulder toward the lower left, he executed a half-turn fake that drew Juwan's attention. Juwan immediately stuck to him, only to realize that Li Fei's shoulder shimmy was a feint.
He hurriedly tried to recover in the opposite direction, but he had fallen right into Li Fei's trap.
Sensing the shift in Juwan Howard's center of gravity, Li Fei used his left foot as a pivot, touched his toe to the ground, and spun rapidly.
Titanium Alloy Joints provided Li Fei's ankles with powerful rigid torsion resistance.
The double-spin fake left Juwan completely dazed on the spot.
WOOOOW
The Great Western Forum erupted in a chorus of gasps.
However, before the fans could even react, Li Fei had already raised his right hand high.
With Eric Riley unable to recover in time to help, he easily scored with a Straight-arm hook shot.
"OH!! MY!! GOD!!!"
Bill Walton's excited shout immediately rang out from the commentary booth: "What did I just see? Ladies and gentlemen, what did I just see?"
"I never expected that Li Fei would use post-up Dreamy Footsteps to shake Juwan completely out of his shoes!"
"When Li Fei was posting up, I thought of 10,000 possibilities: he might use brute strength, he might use a one-armed hook, or even a direct pull-up jumper."
"But using Hakeem Olajuwon-style Dreamy Footsteps to shake off the defense? That was completely outside of my expectations!"
The fans at the Great Western Forum were all clutching their heads in disbelief.
"Dreamy Footsteps!"
"Dreamy Footsteps!"
"Am I seeing this right? Is this not Hakeem Olajuwon?"
"His footwork is just too clean!"
"How can his Dreamy Footsteps be so clean?"
"Did you see the support his ankles and knees provided for his body during the turn? That powerful joint strength gave him terrifying agility and speed!"
"..."
Brother Dong was already starting to analyze Li Fei's footwork on the spot.
Don't ask why the reaction was so huge; a 2.24-meter player using such agile and clean footwork.
Even in the NBA, it was unprecedented.
Meanwhile, the Basketball Trio from China on the sidelines were stunned.
"Oh my god, this footwork!"
Su Qun was so shocked that his glasses almost fell off: "The previous reports didn't say Li Fei's footwork was this good!"
"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and take notes!" Sun Zhengping urged.
"Oh, right, right. Wait, where's my pen?"
Coming back to his senses, Su Qun realized his ballpoint pen and notebook were gone; they had fallen to the floor.
It was only when he looked down to pick up his pen that Su Qun noticed.
His colleague, Xu Jicheng, was already kneeling on the floor to watch the game.
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